Water Matters, by artist Marty Baird

Water Matters is an exhibition of paintings and drawings that document my experience of the waters of four North Carolina Rivers and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

In 2007 on daily bike rides and walks I recorded in drawings the shifting fog, changing ocean colors, unexpected sightings of birds, animals and manmade objects along the California coast for a few months.   This process evolved into working in the waters of the Pacific, and later the Atlantic, letting the waves themselves create patterns and textures thus documenting a specific moment and location.

After I returned to Raleigh, extreme weather conditions around the country and NC, drought, heavy rains, and floods, launched me into thinking about the importance of water and a river project that begins with four NC Rivers:  the Neuse, Tar, the Cape Fear and Roanoke.  While tramping along the trails, the river banks and wading at the edges I record what I find.  The rivers change as their waters move toward the sea, when the rain falls, and as the light varies. The works trace each river’s movement and document human interactions at specific sites.   The NC River Project was funded in part by a 2009 Regional Artist Grant from United Arts Council, and gave me the opportunity to explore the rivers in a concentrated way over an extended time. 

Working outdoors in our rivers and their basins allows me to physically and sensually experience the topography, climate, time and space of each river. I think about permanence, transience, the relationship between beauty and danger.  The water and its currents stain and create patterns by moving over the papers and canvases. I might use sticks, fish hooks, or shells as tools. When I bring the pieces back into the studio I work to make visible my experience of being at the river.